Deadly floods in Libya, triggered by a massive Mediterranean storm that burst dams, swept away buildings, and washed away about a quarter of the eastern coastal city of Derna, have claimed over 2,000 lives and left approximately 10,000 people missing.
As per the latest reports, over 1,000 dead bodies have been recovered in Derna alone, and the grim expectation is that the final death toll will be significantly higher.
Leaders worldwide, including Pope Francis, have expressed deep sadness over the loss of lives and destruction in Libya. The nation, already politically divided between East and West, has seen its public services disintegrate since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising, plunging it into years of factional conflict.
Storm Daniel, a powerful force of nature, crossed the Mediterranean into Libya, a country already torn apart by over a decade of conflict and political instability.
Devastations throughout the country
A Reuters journalist who ventured towards Derna encountered scenes of devastation. Vehicles lay overturned on the roadsides, trees had been uprooted, and abandoned homes stood submerged in water.
Shocking videos portrayed a raging torrent coursing through the city center, obliterating everything in its path as dams gave way, toppling buildings on either side.
Hichem Abu Chkiouat, the minister of civil aviation in the eastern administration, expressed the dire situation, stating, “Bodies are lying everywhere – in the sea, in the valleys, under the buildings.”
He went on to emphasize that more than 1,000 bodies had been recovered, and a staggering 25% of the city had vanished, with numerous buildings reduced to rubble.
As the number of missing individuals continues to climb, Abu Chkiouat, later told Al Jazeera that he anticipates the total death toll across the nation will surpass 2,500.
This catastrophic storm did not spared other eastern cities, including Benghazi, Libya’s second-largest city, and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warned that the death toll will be “huge.”
Relief Efforts from across the globe
In response to this dire situation, United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths announced the mobilization of emergency teams to provide on-the-ground assistance. Various nations, including Turkey, are rushing aid to Libya, offering search and rescue vehicles, boats, generators, and food supplies. Meanwhile, distraught Derna residents are frantically searching for their missing loved ones.
The internationally recognized government in Tripoli, though not in control of the eastern regions, has dispatched aid to Derna, with relief flights departing from Misrata in the west.
The Norwegian Refugee Council paints a grim picture, with tens of thousands of people displaced and no hope of returning to their homes, as entire communities along the north coast have been overwhelmed by the floods, and the death toll continues to rise. Libya faces a long and arduous road to recovery in the wake of this devastating natural disaster.
Extreme Trauma
The emotional toll of this tragedy is immeasurable. At Tripoli airport, a heart-wrenching scene unfolded as a woman received the devastating news that most of her family members were dead or missing. Karim al-Obaidi, a passenger on a plane from Tripoli to the east, expressed his profound fear and despair, having lost contact with all his family, friends, and neighbors.
Naval teams are actively scouring the sea for families swept away in Derna. Tragically, they face severe limitations in their efforts, as Khalifah Touil, an ambulance worker, lamented, “We have nothing to save people … no machines…we are asking for urgent help.”
Early Prediction
This disaster had been predicted, with repeated flooding of the seasonal riverbed cited as a long-standing threat to Derna in a research paper by hydrologist Abdelwanees A. R. Ashoor. The paper called for immediate measures to ensure the regular maintenance of the dams to avert a catastrophic outcome.